'Premature'?: As Longhorns Prep for SEC, Rivalry Negotiations with Texas Tech at Standstill

Texas and Texas Tech first played each other in 1928 and have played every year since 1960.

© John Gutierrez, USA TODAY

The Texas Longhorns will soon be on the way to the SEC. Meanwhile, the Texas Tech Red Raiders will be left in a Big 12 conference that will be a shell of itself despite four new additions of Cincinnati, UCF, BYU, and Houston. 

Initial speculation was that the rivalry would continue after Texas Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt said in Sept. 2021 that he and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte had had a discussion about the two schools continuing to play each other in all sports over the next few decades. 

Texas and Texas Tech first played each other in 1928 and have played every year since 1960. 

But per the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, there is growing concern from Hocutt that the negotiations for a continued rivalry series is no closer toward gaining traction than it was a year ago, as miscommunication has caused some confusion. 

"As I've talked to my counterpart at the University of Texas," Hocutt said, "while all the right things have been communicated to me, it's concerning that in the last couple of weeks I've heard from individuals in Dallas, in Fort Worth and in Midland that there's different things being said from those folks representing the University of Texas and that a scheduling alliance against Texas Tech is not going to happen."

But Del Conte told the Avalanche-Journal that the idea of the series continuing was a bit "premature" as the Longhorns still have to figure things out in the SEC before deciding to maintain tradition.

"I wouldn't say it was anything more than the idea of playing each other, the Texas schools," Del Conte said. "That's all way premature to me. The issues were really just about playing Texas schools is the way I looked at it, and Texas Tech is part of that. I mean, I get it.

"But it's all premature because we didn't know who we're going to play (in the SEC) and how we're going to play. That's why I said, 'Hey, I get the thought process. We're just nowhere near there today.' That was it. There's nothing negative about it."

Del Conte did admit that playing other Texas schools for the foreseeable future is something of heavy interest to UT, sparking some hope in the rivalry seeing more matchups in the coming years. 

"From my perspective, playing Texas schools is something that we're keenly interested in," Del Conte said. "Moving forward, we've just got to know where we are with our conference. We have yet to know what the SEC schedule's going to look like for the future. So we're just focusing right now on the Big 12 for the next couple of years, and then we'll see where it lands moving forward."

But Hoccut didn't hesitate to take a slight jab at Del Conte, saying that the rivalry "financially benefits" the Longhorns in the long run, evident by Red Raider fans taking over the Frank Erwin Center in Austin during last season's basketball matchup between the programs. 

"We sell their tickets, right?" Hocutt said. "We fill up their basketball arena, and we fill up their baseball stadium, fill up their football stadium. So no different than any other university in Texas, when the Red Raiders come, we bring the Red Raider nation and it financially benefits them through their ticket sales."

The discussions between Del Conte and Hocutt are far from over, as this is a development worth following for the seasons to come. 

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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